Where the Chimneys Are Seen. Courtesy Japan Foundation.The Japanese term, Shitamachi (下町) can be literally translated to “downtown,” since shita means down and machi means town, but some translators and scholars like Edward Seidensticker have opted to use the term “low city,”1 to acknowledge that the area often referred to as shitamachi is geographically low-lying on the eastern side of Tokyo. It also differentiates it from the western notion of “downtown.” The term shitamachi in the context of Tokyo dates back to the Edo period (1603-1868), when the ruling Tokugawa shogunate of the time founded Edo (later known as Tokyo) as the capital and built Edo Castle (where today’s Imperial Palace stands) in the center, on top of a hill and placed the rest of the upper class and samurai class on the hilly land west of the castle.2 This high-lying area is known as yamanote which means “hand of the mountain.
- 10/16/2019
- MUBI
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